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American Law and Economics Review V5 N2 2003 (318-343)
© 2003 American Law and Economics Association

Article

Prison Conditions, Capital Punishment, and Deterrence

Lawrence Katz, Steven D. Levitt and Ellen Shustorovich

Harvard University and National Bureau of Economic Research
University of Chicago and American Bar Foundation
City University of New York

Send correspondence to: Steven Levitt, Department of Economics, University of Chicago, 1126 E. 59th Street, Chicago, IL 60637; E-mail: slevitt{at}midway.uchicago.edu.

Abstract

Previous research has attempted to identify a deterrent effect of capital punishment. We argue that the quality of life in prison is likely to have a greater impact on criminal behavior than the death penalty. Using state-level panel data covering the period 1950–90, we demonstrate that the death rate among prisoners (the best available proxy for prison conditions) is negatively correlated with crime rates, consistent with deterrence. This finding is shown to be quite robust. In contrast, there is little systematic evidence that the execution rate influences crime rates in this time period.


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